From The Editor:

It has come to The Journal’s attention that the case of chronic exertional compartment syndrome reported by Kumar, et al,(1) also has been reported in Arthritis and Rheumatism (Hider SL, Hilton RC, and Hutchinson C. “Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome as a Cause of Bilateral Forearm Pain,” Arthritis Rheum. 2002;46:2245-6). We have investigated this concern. Mr. Hodgson, the senior author of the article published in our journal, investigated the matter and confirms that the two reports “almost certainly relate to the same patient.” These interesting clinical findings were identified by two groups (the internists and the surgeons), each of whom independently wrote up the case report and submitted it to their respective journals, where both reports were published. Mr. Hodgson stated, “The two manuscripts have been prepared and submitted independently and without either team asking the other’s permission.”

It is our conclusion that, indeed, the same patient is presented in both reports, but that there was no deliberate intent on the part of anyone to misrepresent this fact.

James D. Heckman, M.D.

Editor-in-Chief Reference:

1.P. Raj Kumar, J. P.R. Jenkins, and S. P. Hodgson; Bilateral Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome of the Dorsal Part of the Forearm:The Role of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Diagnosis: A Case Report J Bone Joint Surg Am 2003; 85: 1557-1559